• 
• 

Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee on Tuesday conceded that price rises this year might exceed initial expectations. He said he feared that inflation by year-end would be over 5 per cent, in spite of the Bank of Thailand's initial forecast that the inflation rate would be around 4 per cent to 5 per cent by the end of December.

Rising prices for oil and food products are the main driving factors. The recent price hikes have markedly impacted people; the Bank of Thailand recently reported that the real interest rate over the past 12 months, ending April, was minus 1.98 per cent. In short, the value of money in consumers' pockets had lost value.

Inflation has now become an urgent issue that the government should concentrate on capping.

The outlook for the economy was positive earlier this year. Trade and investment started to pick up in the first quarter. The public and businesses expected that the newly elected government would turn the economy around.

After all, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's economic team apparently began well after the government announced a number of economic stimulus measures and the implementation of mega-infrastructure projects.

However, the situation does not look so rosy now thanks to unexpected factors such as the fallout from the sub-prime debacle in the US and soaring oil prices. The fact that the government did not concentrate its efforts to fix the economy has exacerbated the situation.

Instead, the Samak government placed a higher priority on playing politics. For instance, it tried to amend the entire 2007 Constitution, which has passed a public referendum. Politicians in the coalition parties were encouraging rumours of a possible coup as a means to muzzle the media.

The unscheduled reshuffle of some civil servants led to questions if the Samak government was acting in the public interest or serving the interests of certain politicians.

All in all, we can safely say that the government has failed during its first three months in office. Prime Minister's Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair recently argued that the three-month period was too short to judge the government's performance.

However, the House's delay in naming the committees to assist the government was another example of the ignorance of the current administration. House committees such as the panels on foreign relations, budget or financial affairs are designed to assist the House in proposing issues to serve the public interest.

Although the government is seen as a separate entity from the House, the Samak government came from the coalition parties, which make up the majority of the House.

It cannot be denied that the disagreement within the People Power Party over the nomination of the candidates to sit on House committees was the main reason for the delay in naming the committees, a mechanism to help the House function more effectively.

The House has no excuse for its delay. The Upper House, which was formed later than the Lower House, has already formed the Senate committees to facilitate its work.

The government should make it a priority to serve the public interest. It should act as the leader to encourage government agencies to act promptly and effectively to solve the problems affecting the general public.

Instead, over the past month, the government has indulged in promoting the interests of certain politicians and ignored the real issue: the economy.

Three months is not a long time but if the government continues to stick its head in the sand, its time may be running out fast.